Viran Ram
I chose Clyde & Co because it is the foremost insurance law practice in this country and the world.
Prior to joining Clyde & Co, I studied Law with French Law at UCL , a four year course with a great year spent in Aix en Provence. I completed my training contract at another firm and upon qualification, joined its insurance and reinsurance team where I worked in a small team of 3 to 4 partners doing mostly reinsurance disputes before moving to Clyde & Co in 2012.
In 2014, I was asked whether I would help set up a new branch of the Property and Liability team in our Oxford office to focus on work for that particular client and to provide new and existing clients with a more cost efficient option for dealing with lower value claims.
We recruited a Junior Associate to assist and started in Oxford in July 2014. We now have five team members working for a range of insurer clients and I have recently been promoted to Legal Director.
I chose Clyde & Co because it has the foremost insurance law practice in this country and the world. It was certainly a change moving from a team that was viewed as a niche part of a wider dispute resolution group to a team that is a major part of our UK business. That means access to a much wider client basis and a higher calibre of work.
Since 2014, I have been running a team on my own and I have relished the challenges and responsibilities that come with that. Recruiting and developing junior lawyers is very rewarding and with the right personnel in place we have been able to grow a profitable practice. It is an experience that few people at my level would have the opportunity to take.
The Oxford office, which we share with a group of professional disputes lawyers, is not a particularly large office. As an office we participate in social and charity events together. It means that everyone gets to know each other in the office and that community feel is very important against the background of the firm's rapid expansion.
The latest member of our Oxford team was a Clyde & Co trainee in Manchester. Hopefully, this will be the first of many home grown recruits.